Coop construction



6, 1955 E. G. DONALDSON 5 2,715,475

COOP CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 21, 1952 INVENTOR izaifiswz;

# flax/M 072 ATTORNEYS Aug.'16, 1955 E. s. DONALDSON COOP CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledNov. 21, 1952 INVENTOR Eben G. Donaldson,

ATTORNEYS Uniteci States Patent (1061 CGNSTRUCTIGN Eben G. Donaldson, .l'onesboro, Ark.

Application November 21, 1952, Serial No. 321,861

1 Claim. (Cl. 21736) This invention relates to coop construction, and more particularly, has reference to an improved construction for a coop such as that used for poultry, the invention being applicable with equal advantage, however, the coops used for other animals, such as rabbits.

The main object of the present invention is to provide an improved coop reinforcing means, applicable to generally conventional coops of the dowel type.

Another object of importance is to provide a reinforcing means of the type stated which will lend itself readily to large scale coop manufacturing operations.

Still another object is to provide a coop reinforcing means which will rigidify the several dowels of the coop, at locations spaced from both the top and bottom of the coop, the reinforcing means constituting the present invention being so designed as to be inexpensive, and readily fashioned from suitable lengths of ordinary wire material.

Yet another object is to provide a wire reinforcement for dowel coops of the character described which, when applied to a generally conventional coop, will increase the lift of said coop, and will permit the coop to remain sturdy and undamaged despite heavy wear.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claim appended thereto, and from the annexed drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a poultry coop, formed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view showing some of the dowels in cross section, with one form of the wire reinforcement constituting the present invention being applied to said dowels;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing another form;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevational View of a poultry coop, in which two pairs of reinforcing wires are used, rather than one pair such as that shown in Figure 1; V

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, showing a construction wherein three pairs of wires are used as a dowel reinforcement;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing another modification;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing still another modification;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing yet another modification;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of a chicken coop showing a corner tie arrangement different from that shown in Figure 1, and used in the structure of Figure 4;

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 9, showing another modification in a corner tie arrangement;

Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 9, showing still another modification in a corner tie arrangement; and

2,715,475 Patented Aug. 16, 1955 Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 9 showing still another modification in a corner tie.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference numeral 10 has been applied generally to the top member of a poultry coop, the reference numeral 12 being similarly applied to the bottom member of said coop. At this point, it may be noted that the construction of the top and bottom members of the coop is conventional, and accordingly, these portions of the coop will not be described in detail. It is to be noted that the illustrated coop has a top door, but in other forms of coops, I may prefer to use a side or end door.

Spacing the top and bottom members apart are large diameter dowels 14, and small diameter dowels 16. The dowels are spaced equal distances apart, about the coop, and again, it may be noted that this is a conventional construction which does not, per se, constitute part of the present invention. The dowels 14 are placed at the end of each row of dowels along each side of coop and form corner posts for the coop. As a result, each corner of the coop is normally provided with a pair of spaced larger diameter dowels 14. This construction can be readily seen in Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12.

The present invention includes a wire reinforcement extending about the coop, and engaged with the several dowels 14, 16, for the purpose of rigidifying said dowels relative to one another. Thus, in Figure 2, the wire reinforcement consists of a pair of wires 18, 29, said wires being extended through the full periphery of the coop, at a location spaced from both the top and bottom members thereof. It the coop is of the side or end door type, the wires would not extend continuously through the full periphery of the coop but would terminate at opposite sides of the door or doors.

As will be noted from Figure 2, the wires 18, 20, are respectively trained about diametrically opposite portions of the dowels 14, 16. Further, it will be seen that in the spaces between the several dowels, the wires 18, 20, are spirally twisted as at 22, to interengage the wires of said pair with one another and hold the wires in a desirably tensioned condition.

It may be noted, additionally, that in the form of the invention shown in Figure 2, the direction of the spiral is reversed medially between each pair of dowels. This simplifies, in many instances, the manufacturing operation, so as to not increase the overall cost of the coop except, perhaps, to a very minor extent.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 3, the wires have been designated by the reference numerals 24, 26. Again, the wires are passed about diametrically opposite portions of the several dowels.

The form of the invention shown in Figure 3 is a woven wire reinforcement, wherein each wire is crossed with the other wire, in the several spaces between the respective dowels. This construction, like the construction shown in Figure 2, permits the coop to be manufactured at a very minor increase in cost above the cost of a coop not having the wire reinforcement, the increase in cost being definitely nominal when one considers the benefits to be obtained.

In Figure 6, there is shown another modified form, wherein the wires of each pair have been designated by the reference numerals 23, 30. Again, the wires are passed about diametrically opposite portions of the several dowels. In the spaces between the dowels, however, the wires, though spirally twisted as at 32, are so twisted as to cause the direction of the spiral to remain unchanged throughout the space between each pair of dowels.

In Figure 7, the wires 34, 36, in the spaces between the several dowels 14, 16, are extended in longitudinally contacting relation, and are spot welded at spaced intervals in the spaces between the dowels, as shown at 38.

In Figure 8, the wires 40, 42 are extended in longitudinally contacting relation between the dowels 14, 16, the longitudinally contacting parts of the wires being clampably engaged with one another by sleeve-like metal clamps 44. 7 Referring to the coops shown in Figures 1, 4, and 9 respectively, in Figure 1 there is shown a construction wherein the wire reinforcement comprises a single pair of wires, extended in parallelism with the top and bottom members. In Figure 1, the wires are twisted in the manner. shown in Figure 2. However, it will be noted, that the wires shown in Figure 1 could, as well, be woven as in Figure 3, spirally interengaged as in Figure 6, welded as in Figure 7, or clamped as in Figure 8.

It will also be noted from Figure 1 that at each corner of the coop, there is provided a pair of corner ties 46. The ties 46 are, in each instance, formed of a pair of Wires spirally twisted in the space between each pair of corner dowels. If desired,-each corner tie can comprise a single wire.

It will be seen that the corner ties are separate from the pair of wires extending through the periphery of the coop, said corner ties being disposed in the spaces between the main pair of reinforcing wires, and the top and bottom members of the coop.

'In Figures 4 and 9, there is shown a coopconstruction wherein two pairs of reinforcing wires are extended about the periphery of the coop, in engagement withthe several dowels 14, 16 thereof. In this form of the invention, a single corner tie, designated at 48, is provided, said single corner tie being disposed in the space between the two pairs of reinforcing wires.

In Figure 5, three pairs of reinforcing wires are used, this construction being particularly desirable when the coop isof substantial height.

In Figure 10, there is shown a corner tie assembly in which a, single pair of reinforcing wires 50 extends from corner to corner of each side of the coop. At each corner ofgthe coop, a single corner tie, comprising a pair of tie wires 52, is used.

In Figure 11, 'a corner tie assembly is shown in which a wire reinforcement 54 is extended along each side of the coop, one end 56 of said reinforcement being extended to form the corner tie.

In Figure 12, another modification in a corner tie is shown, in which the'wire reinforcement 58 is continuous to the extent that it would be passed about three of the corners of the loop to provide corner ties, the fourth corner having a corner tie like that shown in Figure 11;

In all forms of the invention, there is a main, common characteristic. This characteristic resides in the use of a wire reinforcement disposed in the space between the top and bottom members of the coop, and extending peripherally of the coop, said wire reinforcement being engaged with the several dowels of the coop, thus to add to the lateral strength of the dowels and increase the rigidity of the overall coop structure. The construction, it should be noted, is such as to increase the useful life of the coop, it being well appreciated in the art to which the invention relates that coops are subjected to heavy usage, as a resultof which the dowels ordinarily become broken, or loosened, thereby requiring that the coop either be repaired or discarded.

It is also to be noted that the wire reinforcement constituting the present invention is particularly adapted for use with poultry or animal coops, and is not to be confused with a wire reinforcing means such as is sometimes used on boxes. A wire reinforcing means used on boxes,

cated and then assembled with other sides to form a complete coop. The wire reinforcements shown in Figures 1, 9, 10 and 11 are applicable to each side before its assembly with other sides, and after assembly of the.

sides, the corner reinforcements are easily applied.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a coop construction, rectangular top and bottom members, each member having a peripheral rail therearound with the rails arranged in spaced aligned relation, a plurality of spaced dowels secured at opposite ends in the top and bottom rails along each side of the coop and extending between the rails to maintain the rails in their spaced relation, the dowels at each end of each side being of larger diameter to define corner posts, another dowel intermediate the corner posts on each side being of the same diameter as said corner post to impart rigidity to the coop intermediate the corners thereof, a reinforcement comprising a pair of wires extending between the corner posts of each side and passed about the diametrically opposite portions of each dowel, said wires being interconnected by being twisted together in the spaces between succeeding dowels to rigidify the dowels, said wires extending between the corner posts only along each side of the coop, and spaced pairs of wires disposed to opposite sides of said firstmentioned pairof wires and passed about adjacent corner posts at each corner of the coop, and said pairs of wires rigidly interconnected in the space between the corner posts to impart rigidity to the coop at the corners thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 143,632 McGinty Oct. 14, 1873 428,642 Sites May 27, 1890 471,831 Speakrn-an Mar. 29, 1892 569,138 Melvin Oct. 6, 1896 667,755 Wright Feb. 12, 1901 938,041 Smith et a1. Oct. 26, 1909 2,004,409 Hopkins June 11, 1935 2,071,089 Rowe Dec. 11, 1935 2,464,432 Brickman Mar. 15, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 140,168 Great Britain Mar. 25, 1920 205,149 Great Britain Oct. 18, 1923 649,713 France Sept. 4, 1928 703,576 France Feb. 9, 1931 

